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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think its ok to send my ironing out?

471 replies

elliemac · 13/10/2007 21:45

Have discovered this fab ironing lady just down the road from me but DH keeps moaning that i'm sending it out all the time. Its just such a relief to bung it in a bag and have it all come back nicely pressed. Am a SAHM so should i be making time to do it myself?

OP posts:
wheelybug · 14/10/2007 22:43

Well ok tipex, in that case, you can zip down do the dusting take a load of ironing back with you and come down the next week with an ironed pile, do the dusting, take a fresh pile of ironing etc etc.... Its not like you have anything better to do ().

This thread has made me realise I need to find someone who is cheaper than £2 a shirt (and I have to take them there and pick them up).

Rubineski · 14/10/2007 22:46

We pay twenty quid for a bag of ironing - which is about a bin bag full/Ikea bag full. and boy you can fit a lot in if you try!

bargain! usually get all our stuff in.

Original poster
elliemac · 15/10/2007 08:19

Wheelybug - You definately need to find someone cheaper. Mine gets picked up and delivered for that price too!

OP posts:
pooka · 15/10/2007 08:54

We've recently started having cleaners in once a fortnight as well. The real difference I have noticed is that the house is generally tidier because I make sure that once a fortnight (before they come) I have a good old tidy and also declutter, so that they can concentrate on cleaning rahter than having to negotiate the stuff all over the place.

I am all for lightening the load, and as I freelance, but for enjoyment really rather than financial necessity, I don't mind spending my money on the jobs I don't enjoy.

Anna8888 · 15/10/2007 09:25

Lucky, lucky Morningglory . If you can afford it - go for it - absolutely wonderful to have full-time domestic support if you have a child and a baby .

andiem · 15/10/2007 09:26

I have now decided to be sahm after having dc2, dc1 is at school and I am definitely not giving up my cleaner she does the house and all my ironing. I can afford it and I want to spend the time doing things with dcs and cooking etc also like to have a bit of me time and go to the gym
As someone else says doing your own cleaning/ironing doesn't make you morally superior if you can afford someone else to do it and you want someone else to do it then go for it.

Original poster
elliemac · 15/10/2007 09:31

Why should we spend all day cleaning and ironing anyway. You don't get these years back with your kids and if sending my ironing out gives me more quality time with DD then so much the better. If you can afford it - do it!!! My DD is so active that the thought of ironing when she's in bed is.....well i just can't think it. I'm usually ready to go to bed at 7pm myself!!!!!

OP posts:
kslatts · 15/10/2007 09:42

I wouldn't send my ironing out as I would rather spend the money on other things, but YANBU as long as you can afford.

Starbear · 15/10/2007 21:28

My lovely cleaner has phoned in sick!
Must send flowers so she comes back. Well its a day off for me tommorow, ironing board out and Good Morning to GMTV,homes under the hammer, house in the sun. I bet I'll only iron 1 or 2 t-shirts in the time she does the whole load

Original poster
elliemac · 16/10/2007 19:26

Just leave it all till she comes back starbear!!

OP posts:
inthegutter · 16/10/2007 21:54

Is the issue money? If you're not earning and DH is paying, then I guess he's got a point. We both earn and send our ironing out - it's fab, but while I was briefly a SAHM i did the family ironing cos I had the time.

Starbear · 16/10/2007 23:19

Elliemac, Didn't even get the board out. Did start to do yukky tax return instead. I'm going to send that out too! Elliemac, Are you still sending the Ironing Out! What does DH say about it now?

Original poster
elliemac · 17/10/2007 19:31

Still sending it out Starbear - Don't send all the baby clothes or anything like that out just his shirts and trousers (and my superking duvet - pain in the arse!!) It really doesn't cost that much each week. I know i'm a SAHM but i just don't have the time. I'm always at different groups and doing activities with DD which is more important to me than ironing! Do all the rest of the household chores and it sits like a showhome so he can bugger off with his moaning

OP posts:
Starbear · 17/10/2007 19:38

Good girl. Just give him a BJ now and again and it will keep him happy. In the old days I had to wear a school shirt for 2 days then 3 days so my Mum didn't have to iron so much.
I'm sure cavewoman didn't do any ironing. Now I wonder when in history this hideous habit started and why?{hmm]

Original poster
elliemac · 17/10/2007 19:50

They've got a lot to answer for haven't they! Is your cleaner back then?

OP posts:
Starbear · 17/10/2007 19:52

No, she'll be back next week. must find out when its her birthday!

TinyGang · 17/10/2007 19:57

I am a sahm and also have a brilliant lady who irons for me. I hate hate ironing and we can afford what she charges. It's a fantastic arrangement and felt like a ton weight lifted from me once I started using her. I used to spend ages mired in masses of laundry.

But...she's my little secret. Well, dh knows obviously, but I don't go round telling people about it. They might say 'good for you' but I just know that a lot will be all jugdey and critical about it, if not to my face. And that would spoil it because then I'd feel guilty and it's nothing to do with anyone else anyway. I don't ask them to pay for it.

There is a tendency for martyrdom about things like ironing. I can remember when dishwashers became popular. Some people wouldn't even consider such a thing. They made you lazy

But life is too short. If you can afford the alternative, take it and enjoy the freedom it gives you.

Original poster
elliemac · 17/10/2007 19:58

Don't you ever worry that she's having a good old nose round your house?

OP posts:
Starbear · 17/10/2007 22:56

No, I more embrassed that the house is a tip when friends pop round. I used to be a chambermaid in my youth I had no interest in other peoples stuff, I had too much work to do. I threw out the nude photos when I planned to live to DH.

Original poster
elliemac · 18/10/2007 20:19

DH suggested a cleaner a few hours a week today - YIPEEEEEE!!!!! How do you go about finding a good one and how much do they charge per hour. I would imagine the work would be quite light in my house cause i really like to keep it clean anyway. Just looking for someone to come in and give it a deep clean maybe once a week or so

OP posts:
Starbear · 18/10/2007 23:17

Good man. I pay my lovely cleaner £30.00 for 3 1/2 hours. She is self-employed. Don't use agencies they fleece you and the cleaner. My very good friend recommend her. If you can afford a cleaner you must have friends who have them too, they might not have told you.
I pay once a week for her to do the following. Kitchen tops oven & grill, wash the floor and downstairs loo.
Dust & hoover the front room
Hoover stairs, dust and hoover two bedrooms (very small house) and make the beds (not change the bed) I get up at 6am and we have to be out of the house by 7.20am Clean the bathroom.
Then the really big job ironing all my work shirts (3 a week) blouses t-shirts maybe one skirt, Dh work tops,(he changes a couple of times a day) gym t-shirts, and more t-shirts chinos and his bits and pieces. No linen (I put it straight onto the bed.)Ds smart shirts and chinos if we've been some where special. I hope that helps.

imagineafullnightsleep · 19/10/2007 09:17

My dp and I both work full time, ds is in nursery from 8 til 6. By the time I rush home from work to collect ds, and get back home, its about 6.15pm. I get just about an hour and a half with my ds a day. I'd love it to be more, but hey ho, that's the way it is. By the time we've cooked tea and sat down in the evening it's pretty much 9pm. Given that I have to be up for work at 5.30am - I really don't have the time or the energy to clean the house. So, sod it, I got a cleaner in. I genuingely love her ! She cleans my entire house (not exactly massive !) a damn site quicker than I ever did. She cleans the kitchen (which, to be fair is the easiest job, since it's the only room I clean round every day), dusts etc the lounge, mops all the floors, hoovers two flights of stairs, hoovers 3 bedrooms / landings etc., every other week, changes 2 beds, cleans the bathroom (& mops the floors), puts my washing out to dry if there is any in the machine (her own initiative), and generally tidies the house. She does all of this in 2.5 hours, and I pay her £15 and the agency £6. As far as I am concerned, this is the best £21 a week I spend. I feel no guilt. I don't do any ironing - am either a scruffy git, or just don't buy much stuff that needs ironing. Now and again, we'll need shirts for work - cleaner irons these too. If you can afford it, then don't feel guilty about it.

mylittlefreya · 19/10/2007 09:36

incogneato - me too! the first thing I am going to do when I get back into work is get a cleaner

lucyellensmum - I don't always, but here I absolutely agree with all you've said. I have only once ironed something for dd - to go to a wedding, I don't iron my clothes, and I would just rather be mildly creased. DH needs a couple of decent shirts a week, he does them with the radio on.

Original poster
elliemac · 19/10/2007 20:47

Will definately be looking into the cleaner thing! I hate wearing stuff that's not ironed. I even have to have my pyjamas ironed - freak!!!

OP posts:
babyblue2 · 19/10/2007 20:50

No i'm SAHM and I send my ironing out but I have a young girly to do mine so a load is only a fiver or so. Also pay for someone to cut my not so massive lawn too. It just eases the stress.

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